Individual investors among Holding Varna AD's (BUL:HVAR) largest stockholders and were hit after last week's 49% price drop

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by individual investors in Holding Varna AD indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• The top 4 shareholders own 52% of the company
• Past performance of a company along with ownership data serve to give a strong idea about prospects for a business

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A look at the shareholders of Holding Varna AD (BUL:HVAR) can tell us which group is most powerful. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are individual investors with 48% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

As market cap fell to лв315m last week, individual investors would have faced the highest losses than any other shareholder groups of the company.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Holding Varna AD.

View our latest analysis for Holding Varna AD

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Holding Varna AD?

Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index.

We can see that Holding Varna AD does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see Holding Varna AD's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Holding Varna AD. Pavleks-97 EOOD is currently the largest shareholder, with 17% of shares outstanding. Andezit OOD is the second largest shareholder owning 15% of common stock, and Abas Ltd. holds about 13% of the company stock.

To make our study more interesting, we found that the top 4 shareholders control more than half of the company which implies that this group has considerable sway over the company's decision-making.

While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. As far as we can tell there isn't analyst coverage of the company, so it is probably flying under the radar.

Insider Ownership Of Holding Varna AD

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

I generally consider insider ownership to be a good thing. However, on some occasions it makes it more difficult for other shareholders to hold the board accountable for decisions.

Our information suggests that Holding Varna AD insiders own under 1% of the company. We do note, however, it is possible insiders have an indirect interest through a private company or other corporate structure. It appears that the board holds about лв3.0k worth of stock. This compares to a market capitalization of лв315m. Many tend to prefer to see a board with bigger shareholdings. A good next step might be to take a look at this free summary of insider buying and selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 48% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Private Company Ownership

We can see that Private Companies own 45%, of the shares on issue. Private companies may be related parties. Sometimes insiders have an interest in a public company through a holding in a private company, rather than in their own capacity as an individual. While it's hard to draw any broad stroke conclusions, it is worth noting as an area for further research.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Case in point: We've spotted 3 warning signs for Holding Varna AD you should be aware of, and 2 of them are potentially serious.

If you would prefer check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, backed by strong financial data.

NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.